Good, affordable, family-friendly neighborhoods? (Memphis, Chattanooga: for rent, houses, safe area)

[Jack1971]

We are moving from Florida because the economy here is awful and likely to take at least 5-10 years to recover. We chose the Chattanooga area for a lot of different reasons... but we need suggestions for good neighborhoods/towns to start out in. We own our own home-based business so commuting to downtown isn't necessary. Our children aren't school-age yet so that's not a priority right now. We will be renting for at least a few years, and probably working in restaurants until our business gets going. We would appreciate suggestions for reasonably-priced and safe areas to look for a place to rent. Thanks in advance for your help!

[SPLIT]

JACK: WELCOME to the forum on your 1st post . .We moved from Fla 3 yrs ago, so can understand.

... Maybe North Hixon would be a starting point to look for your needs. Along rt #153 are the shopping plaza / food places. Dallas hollow might be the housing you wish .
.. The more north one goes , prices are lower for rural town . The liquor laws were always strict for restaurants, and every year get closer to passing in the elections, which would encourage restaurants to open in northern end of Hamilton co.

. Good Luck . 88 degrees rest of week , you will feel right at home .! ,But plenty of places to go for cool swim.

[Jack1971]

Thanks for the reply, Split. So there are fewer restaurants north of the city because of the liquor laws?

[Jack1971]

We found a house on Stonewall Dr in Harrison that meets our needs and price... would that be a good neighborhood?

Also, considering all of the flooding in Nashville and Memphis, are there areas of Hamilton county that should be avoided for the risk of flash floods?

[An Einnseanair]

Considering the amount of rain that fell in the Nashville area, ANY house that isn't on the peak of a hill has the risk of flooding.

Stonewall Drive appears to be just outside of the Chattanooga City limits, but is inside the proposed Urban Growth Boundary (which means Chattanooga will attempt to annex sometime in the future).

You're only a few miles from the Harrison Bay / Wolftever creek area of Chickamauga Lake with associated marinas and lake access.

Easy access to Hwy 58, and from there to downtown Chattanooga or across the dam to Hixson. Commute to downtown would be about 15 miles, or 25 mins (normal) to 40 mins (bad traffic).

The south/west side backs up the the old Volunteer Ammunition Plant, which is being converted to a new Volkswagen plant with affiliated support businesses. If they leave a good buffer between the plant activity and residential areas you might not ever know it's there. If not... well... good luck getting to sleep at night. On the plus side, you'll be way on the back side of the plant, so at least you won't have to deal with extra traffic.

That's all I could pick out from knowledge of the area and Google Earth. I know nothing about the quality of the actual neighborhood and the homes themselves.

[Jack1971]

Thanks, jw. That's good info. I'd still like to hear from someone who knows the neighborhood...

[peppermint]

I don't know that neighborhood, but my husband and I live off of Harrison Bay Road in Harrison. We love it. The commute is very easy, and we don't have city taxes. We don't have children in school so I can't comment about the schools, but Harrison is great.

[wisconsingirl66]

I was looking into Harrison as a possible place to buy a house. You said that you don't pay city taxes, do they still have garbage pick-up, etc? I was informed that some places you have to contract for garbage pick up and stuff....

[peppermint]

You will have to contact a company to pick up your garbage. It's really not a big deal. Our company also offers curbside recycling, which we love. We really love our house and the Harrison area.

[Shyanne88]

My husband and I are in the same situation only we have both lived around Nashville and moved to Oregon for a year. We want to move back now and I plan to attend UTC. We are both in our 20's and have a 4 month old baby so safety is out number one issue. The second issue is money.
Ideal situation:
around $600 monthly rent
a home with fenced in yard for big dog
1-2 bedrooms
within 10 minutes drive to campus

I have been all over the internet searching for houses. I look at street views and it seems they are in a shady part of town or they are too far away from campus. I have been on craigslist, rent.com, chattanooga rent...etc. Seriously I have been doing research for over a month. Nothing is coming through and I wish I had someone scouting out for rent signs for me.

Please let me know if you have some inside information on a place for rent. We are both planning on having jobs before the move ( around July 1st).

I could stand to live farther away from downtown, I am just completely blind when it comes to this town. We want the safety and privacy of a home, but close to nightlife for the rare occasion we get out.